The subject matter disclosed herein relates to tomographic imaging and, more particularly, to performing tomographic imaging using data generated from two imaging planes.
Imaging technologies allow images of the internal structures of a patient or object to be obtained, thereby minimizing the invasive procedure on the patient or object. In particular, technologies such as X-ray fluoroscopy, X-ray computed tomography (CT), and tomosynthesis use various physical principles, such as the varying transmission of X-rays through a target volume, to acquire projection data and to construct images (e.g., three-dimensional, volumetric representations of the interior of the human body or of other imaged structures). However, various physical limitations or constraints on acquisition may result in artifacts or other imperfections in the reconstructed image. Furthermore, the bulk of certain systems, such as X-ray computed tomography systems, can preclude their use in conjunction with medical procedures, such as interventional procedures.
With respect to the resultant images obtained by certain X-ray systems, imaging methods that utilize X-ray projection images may suffer from artifacts due to incompleteness of the scan data. Truncation of data in certain directions (e.g., in the direction corresponding to the one or more axes about which the X-ray source rotates about the patient), mishandled data, and/or missing projection angles can often lead to such artifacts and imperfections. In addition, obtaining complete data sets can be time-consuming. Furthermore, it may be desirable to reduce the patient's exposure to X-rays.